Restored Attraction
by Nintendo Maximus
Summary: Candy realizes that she still has feelings for Dipper after the events of Weirdmageddon and decides to confess them to him before he and Mabel go home, but does she still have a chance to rekindle her relationship with him?


_**Restored Attraction**_

 **By Nintendomaximus  
**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Gravity Falls_ ; it belongs to Alex Hirsch and Disney.

 **Author's Note:** Hey everyone. It's been almost nine years since the last time I wrote a new fanfiction, and I've been focusing more on my artwork over at DeviantART, including some art based on Disney's _Gravity Falls_. As you may have seen from my drawings based on that show, I've always thought that Dipper & Candy would make a nice romantic couple, and one of the pictures I drew of them served as the basis for this story. For context, this takes place between the last two scenes in the series finale (that is to say, between the twins' birthday party and them getting on the bus to go home), which according to the "Timeline" page on the _Gravity Falls_ wiki, are spread across the last two days of Dipper and Mabel's trip to Gravity Falls.

* * *

Candy Chiu had always considered herself a reasonable person. Sure, she was a little nerdy, a bit silly, and pretty shy and insecure, but when she felt that she had made up her mind on something, she stuck to it. But for the past few days, there was something on her mind that she'd been having second thoughts about.

It all started about three weeks ago, when her best friend Mabel had invited her to join in on a road trip that her great-uncle Stan was taking to go sabotage all the other tourist traps in Gravity Falls. During the excursion, Candy had found herself developing a sudden attraction to Mabel's twin brother, Dipper, when he seemed to be flirting with her. Deep down, she secretly felt that Dipper was someone she could easily see herself pursuing a relationship with, but had never given it much thought until now.

Under Mabel's guidance, Candy asked Dipper to spend some alone time with her in the Mystery Mountain. This was something that he did not see coming, as he had actually been trying to get his mind off of his previous crush, Wendy Corduroy, by flirting with every girl he crossed paths with during the trip. When Candy found out about this, she was pretty upset and stormed off. Eventually, after a harrowing adventure trying to rescue Stan from a giant spider named Darlene, Dipper apologized for breaking her heart, to which Candy forgave him, but she admitted that she had lost interest in him after seeing him lose his bravery in front of the giant spider.

Candy thought that would've been the end of that heartbreaking chapter of her life, but then, just less than two weeks after that fateful road trip, something really crazy happened. Mabel learned that Stan's six-fingered brother, Ford, had offered to make Dipper his apprentice, which would mean that he'd have to stay in Gravity Falls and not return home with her. Heartbroken at the possibility, Mabel was tricked by the evil dream demon Bill Cipher into allowing him to shatter open an interdimensional rift that Ford had managed to contain in a snowglobe-like orb. With the rift shattered, Bill was able to bring his nightmarish world into Gravity Falls in a catastrophic event called Weirdmageddon.

Candy, of course, never expected that would be how the following week would play out. Just earlier that day, she was receiving an invitation to Mabel and Dipper's 13th birthday party which was to be held at the Mystery Shack at the end of the month, but she had to tell her best friend that she couldn't attend because her parents were planning to make her go to music camp. But with the town having fallen under siege by Bill's army of monsters, the possibility of her missing out on her friend's birthday party had become the least of her concerns.

Fortunately, thanks to Ford having protected the Mystery Shack with an invisible "Bill-proof" barrier for which she had helped Mabel find ingredients a few days earlier, Candy was able to seek refuge in the Shack, along with many of the other citizens who hadn't been captured or transformed by Bill. Eventually, who should make their way back to the Shack, but her best friend and her former crush. Candy watched as Dipper rallied the refugees together so they could rescue Ford (who had gotten captured by Bill shortly after Weirdmageddon began) and save the town, and she couldn't help but notice that he had certainly become a lot braver since that incident in the Mystery Mountain. Later, as everyone was helping out in assembling the Shack into a giant mech designed by "Old Man" Fiddleford McGucket, Mabel told Candy that she'd spent the last few days trapped in a dream bubble by Bill. But ever-loyal Dipper, accompanied by Soos and Wendy, had battled various foes to get into that dream bubble, even convincing Gideon Gleeful to turn against Bill, just to rescue her.

Knowing what Dipper went through to save her best friend, and seeing how brave he truly was during Weirdmageddon, had now brought Candy to realize that maybe he wasn't really the falsely-suave coward she had dumped after the run-in with Darlene. And thus, as Gravity Falls came to recover from Weirdmageddon after Bill's defeat, Candy had found herself having a hard time going to sleep at night, for her mind kept going to the brown-haired boy with the pine tree cap. Dipper Pines had become worthy of her love once again, but the question was, after what she had said to him after he previously broke her heart, was he willing to reciprocate?

That was the question that came to Candy's mind on this very day, when she and her other best friend, Grenda Grendinator, were attending Dipper and Mabel's birthday party. After the events of Weirdmageddon, Candy's parents had changed their minds about sending her to music camp this year and decided to let her attend the party.

As the party was winding down, Candy walked up the porch of the Mystery Shack where her now-13-year-old friend was standing and tapped her shoulder, saying, "Hey Mabel."

"Yo, Candy. How's it hangin'?" Mabel said. "And thanks again for that Sev'ral Timez CD!"

"You're quite welcome. So, is it true that you and Dipper will be going home tomorrow?"

"You got that right, girlfriend! But before we do, we're gonna have our last campfire tonight. You and Grenda wanna stick around for it? It'll almost be like one more sleepover party!"

"That would be most delightful, Mabel," Candy replied. "But there's something I want to say to Dipper right now. Where is he?"

"He's upstairs workin' on that new journal I gave him. I'll go get him!" But before Mabel could go to fetch her brother, Candy put a hand on her shoulder.

"No, no," Candy said, "I think it's best if I tell him privately."

"Why, Candy." Mabel looked at her friend with a sly smile. "Are you saying what I think you're gonna say?"

Candy blushed slightly. "Hmmm, maybe."

"Well, don't let me stop you from askin', girl!" Mabel beamed, putting her arms out in a "right this way" fashion.

Candy headed inside the Mystery Shack and made her way upstairs to the room that the Pines twins had used as their bedroom for the whole summer. The object of her newly-rekindled affections was sitting on his bed, writing in a hardbound book identical to the journals that belonged to his great-uncle Ford, except this one was blue with a white pine tree on the front cover, similar to the six-fingered hand symbol on Ford's journals. "Hello, Dipper," Candy shyly greeted.

"Aah!" Startled by the sound of her voice, Dipper let out a surprised yelp and almost tossed his book. Turning to the doorway, he took notice of the black-haired girl standing there. "Oh, uh, hello Candy. What are you doing up here? Mabel didn't invite you and Grenda to sleep over again, did she?"

"Actually, she just invited us to your campfire," Candy admitted, shyly putting her arms behind her back.

"Guess I shouldn't be so surprised," the birthday boy said as he set his feet on the floor and looked out the window. "Well, at least it's better than another one of your annoying slumber parties keeping me up all night."

"Yeah, that sounds great," Candy said solemnly as she looked toward the ground, her heart having sunk a bit as she heard him say that. Here she was, wanting to tell Dipper that she loved him, but now she was worried it would be a waste of time.

Dipper turned around and noticed how sad the raven-haired girl looked. "I-is something wrong, Candy?" he asked, figuring maybe his previous statement had sounded too harsh. "I'm sorry. If Mabel wants to invite you over for one last sleepover, that'll be okay with me."

"No no, I'm okay with just staying for the campfire, and I'm sure Grenda is too. Besides, that's not why I came up here." Candy shifted her eyes towards the vest-wearing boy. "You remember that road trip your great-uncle Stan took us on about three weeks ago?"

"Yeah, that was when you developed a crush on me," he replied. "Y-You're not still upset that I hurt your feelings, are you?"

"No, you see, I was thinking back to how I told you I was no longer romantically interested in you after seeing you fleeing like a coward from that giant spider. The thing is, ever since Mabel told me how you saved her from that dream bubble, and after seeing how you rallied everyone together during Weirdmageddon, it's made me realize that... I may have misjudged you."

Dipper was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I think deep down, I've always sort of secretly liked you, ever since Mabel introduced me and Grenda to you." Candy said, the blush on her face getting gradually bigger. "I'd never really thought about it until the road trip, though, and when you broke my heart back there, I thought that would be the end of it. But now that I know what a brave person you truly are, I don't think I can hide it anymore, and since you're going away tomorrow, I may not have another chance to tell you this. I really, _really_ like you, Dipper Pines. And I mean that as possibly more than a friend."

Dipper's eyes went wide at that confession. "Wait a minute. Candy, are you saying-"

"Yes, Dipper, when I say that boys make me think about kissing, I'm thinking of _you._ " Candy continued. "You're courageous, and compassionate, and I think you're as sweet as my namesake. And if I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would've loved to help you solve more of the mysteries in this town. But I know you probably don't feel the same way, since you've had your heart set on Wendy, and I wouldn't be surprised if you also took a liking to Pacifica after that party at her mansion. And I'm sorry that Grenda and I kept annoying you with our slumber parties. So, if you don't really like me that way, I understand."

Dipper stared at the girl in surprise. Once again, he'd been hit with the revelation that she had a crush on him, and he was certain that she meant it this time. After about 30 seconds, he finally broke the silence. "Mason," he blurted out.

"Huh?" Candy didn't understand why he had said that.

"My real name is Mason," Dipper confessed. "Mason Alexander Pines. And you're the first person outside the family I've ever told that to."

Candy smiled. "It's a very handsome name."

"I dunno. I've actually always wanted to be named Tyrone." Dipper scratched the back of his head. "But my parents insisted that Mabel and I should have similar-sounding names."

"I don't care what your real name is; Mason, Tyrone... a Dipper by any other name would be just as sweet."

Dipper started to blush himself. "Thanks, but... that's not my only confession, Candy," he smiled sheepishly. "I'll admit, I have spent this whole summer obsessing over Wendy. And yes, I did gain some newfound admiration for Pacifica after she stood up to her parents and saved us from that lumberjack ghost. But I think I've always secretly felt the same way about you."

As he said that, Candy's face momentarily dipped into a somber expression before switching to a look of surprise. "Really? You do?"

"Yeah," Dipper continued, putting his hand over his heart. "I guess all these months, I was too annoyed about Mabel always inviting you and Grenda over every other night to realize it. And then during the road trip, I didn't know how to act, 'cause I never expected you really wanted to go on a date with me. I just kept thinking that the both of us were out of each other's league." As he said that, he took Candy's hand in his and looked her directly in the eye. "But now, I think I can actually say it... I really like you a lot, Candy Chiu. And I _definitely_ mean that as more than a friend."

Upon letting that sink in, Candy put her arms around Dipper's back and pulled him into a hug, which he happily returned. She then pulled his face up to hers and passionately pressed her lips against his. Although Dipper was taken by surprise from the kiss, he didn't really mind it; in fact, now he knew how Mabel felt when she kissed Mermando. He closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around her, and returned the kiss as Candy's left leg lifted up behind her.

Just then, the flash of a camera went off in front of the young couple, leading them to break away from their kiss. "Scrapbook-portunity!" they heard Mabel chirp. "I'm totes labeling this one 'Dipper's Favorite Present'."

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted in annoyance at his braces-wearing sister, while Candy just silently giggled.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt your little interlude, Dip, but Great-uncle Ford says he needs you right now."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Turning to Candy, Dipper explained what his sister was talking about. "I told him we should burn all of his Bill-related artifacts in the campfire. I just wish we knew what to do about his journals," he said, putting his finger to his chin.

"Oh, don't worry, bro," said Mabel. "I've got _that_ figured out for ya."

"You have?"

"Yeah, but I'll let Great-uncle Ford tell ya later. You just go help him gather everything for the fire, bro," Mabel said. As her brother headed downstairs to go help their great-uncle, she then walked up to her friend and said, "Anyway, Candy, I just called your folks, and they said yes! You can stay over for the campfire, just as long as you don't get home too late."

"That's wonderful, Mabel!" said Candy.

"Of course it is! Now you get to spend some more time with your new boyfriend!" Mabel winked, lightly bumping her fist against Candy's right arm.

So, that night, Mabel's best friends joined Candy's new boyfriend, his sister, their great-uncles, and the rest of the Mystery Shack crew around what would be their last campfire for that summer. Everything that Ford had ever collected from his encounters with Bill Cipher was put in a pile that was then set on fire, and a good time was had by all. The group all had delicious hot s'mores, told some stories, and at Mabel's insistence, they even had a few karaoke sing-alongs. When it was Candy's turn to sing, she performed "Disco Girl" by BABBA, and to her pleasant surprise, Dipper was the first to join in the song.

0-0-0

The next afternoon, Stan had bought a used boat that he and Ford would be using for the adventures they were planning to go on, Ford took Mabel's suggestion of throwing his journals into the Bottomless Pit, and Dipper and Mabel were now about ready to go home. They had just finished packing up their belongings and were coming downstairs when they were greeted by the handyman who was now in charge of the Mystery Shack.

"Hey guys," said Soos. "Ya ready to see your folks back home?"

"You bet!" Mabel said with a thumbs-up gesture. "And congrats on your big promotion!"

"We're gonna miss hanging out with you, Soos," said Dipper. "Like Grunkle Stan says, you may not have always gotten things done the right way, but you got 'em done."

"I don't think I've ever heard him say that..." Mabel observed.

"It's all right, dudes," Soos replied. "I was just video-chatting with Melody, and she told me she'd be fully willing to move up here to help me run the place in about a month or two."

"That's wonderful news, Soos!" Mabel excitedly put her arms in the air. "You two are totes gonna be together forever!"

Hearing Soos mention that he and his girlfriend would reunite pretty soon, however, gave Dipper pause for thought. He'd been so caught up in the moment that he and Candy had confessed their feelings to each other, that he'd overlooked the fact that their relationship would have to be a long-distance one. Even though he figured Mabel would be keeping in touch with Candy and Grenda after this, he realized to himself right then and there that he himself should've also given Candy a means of contacting him, and now that he was going home, he was worried he wouldn't have the chance to do that.

Fortunately, Dipper's mental anguish about that proved to be short-lived, for at that moment, there was a knock on the door nearby. Soos opened it up, and there was Candy and Grenda.

"Oh, hey Grenda. Hi Candy," Dipper said, his mouth forming a shy grin at the sight of his new girlfriend's beaming face.

"Friends!" Mabel greeted her life-long friends with a group hug. "You came to see us one last time!"

"You bet, Mabel!" exclaimed Grenda. "We weren't gonna let ya leave without us sayin' goodbye."

"Well, before we _do_ go," said Mabel, "why don't we show you that new boat that Grunkle Stan bought this morning?"

"And by 'new', we mean 'used and very inexpensive'," Dipper remarked. "He and Ford are gonna be using it for the adventures they'll be going on. That is, as soon as they get it ship-shape."

"Heh, good one, bro!" Mabel nudged her brother.

"That wasn't a joke, Mabel," Dipper clarified.

"Good thing _I'm_ here!" Soos lifted up his hammer from out of nowhere. "I can have the _Stan o' War II_ ready to go before ya can say 'super-California-mystic-something'... okay, I don't know how that word really goes, but I think there's a song about it."

As Mabel started to bring Grenda outside to go take a look at the used trawler that Stan and Ford were naming the _Stan o' War II_ , Candy stayed behind. "You two go on ahead; I have something to say to Dipper."

"Uh-oh, _someone_ is blushing, again!" Grenda teased, pointing at Candy.

Soos seemed confused about Grenda's remark. "Uh, did I miss something?"

Dipper walked into the living room, gesturing to Candy to follow him. "It's okay, Soos," he said to the shack's new proprietor. "We'll be out in a minute or two."

"If you say so, dude," said Soos as he followed the other two girls to go look at the boat outside.

Once the two of them were alone in the living room, Dipper looked his girlfriend in the eye. "Hey Candy, I'm really glad you came over. I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you again before we left. I know we've only really been together for one day, but I'm gonna miss being with you."

"That's why I wanted to talk to you, actually." Candy took a marker out of her backpack. "I forgot to give you my email address yesterday. Do you want me to write it down for you?"

"Hang on a sec." Dipper reached into his suitcase and pulled out the book he had been writing in the previous day. "This is my new journal; Mabel got it for me when she went to the multiverse. Do you like the cover?" he asked, pointing to the pine tree symbol on the front.

"Oh yeah, Mabel mentioned that to me yesterday," Candy said. "It looks really cool."

Dipper opened up the journal and pointed to the upper left corner on the cover's interior. "Here, I think _this_ would be a better spot to keep your email address than on my arm," he said with a wink.

Candy nodded and wrote down her phone number and email address where Dipper was pointing, and signed her name with a heart underneath it and some Xs and Os. Dipper then tore out a blank page out of the journal, grabbed his pen from his suitcase, and wrote down something on it before giving it to her. Looking at the paper, she saw that Dipper had written down his phone number and email address for her, and signed it with a picture of a pine tree in a heart. With a heartfelt smile, she folded up the paper and put it her backpack.

"Also, I wanted you to have this." Candy then pulled a different piece of paper out of her backpack and unfolded it. It was a drawing of her and Dipper riding on the back of a big orange fire-breathing dragon. "I just finished it this morning."

Dipper quickly recognized the reptile in the picture. "Hey, that's DigiZard."

"Yep. I was originally just drawing a simple fan-art of my favorite Monstermon," Candy explained, "but after I realized I still loved you, I decided to make it a card for you, 'cause I remembered how you were willing to help find the lost pages of my fanfiction novel."

"For DigiZaaard!" Dipper shouted with his fist in the air, remembering the incident in question. Then, he brushed a tear from his eye and said in a more serious tone, "It's really beautiful, Candy."

"I'm glad you like it." Candy folded up her drawing and gave it to him. "I want you to take it home so you'll have something to remember me by. Think of it as a belated birthday gift."

At that point, the two of them heard Stan calling from outside. "Hey, Dipper! Ya almost done in there? That bus to Piedmont is gonna be here in fifteen minutes, so whatever you're doing, ya better wrap it up!"

"Just a sec, Grunkle Stan!" Dipper called back, and promptly placed the folded-up drawing between two pages of his journal. "Thanks, Candy. I'll always think of you whenever I play _Monstermon_ now," he said as he put his journal back in his suitcase.

"The feeling's mutual. And I'll be sure to catch you next summer..." Candy replied, and then suddenly gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. "...Handsome."

Mabel had just finished showing the _Stan o' War II_ to Grenda when Candy came out, happily humming "Disco Girl" to herself. Without even needing to ask, Mabel could tell things were working out between her brother and her best friend. So, right when Dipper came outside himself, Mabel was quick to tease him. "Well well," she said, "looks like _someone_ didn't want to leave without saying a proper goodbye to his new girlfriend!"

"Mabel!" Dipper responded in a rather annoyed tone, still blushing from Candy's kiss. "Are you seriously gonna be like that for the whole trip home?"

"Aw, don't be so modest, bro. I knew there was still a spark of romance between you two!" Mabel triumphantly raised her left fist in the air and declared, "Match made! Soooo, am I gonna be your maid of honor when you two tie the knot?"

"Not if you keep teasing me like that."

0-0-0

That evening, Dipper and Mabel, along with her pet pig Waddles, had arrived back in their hometown of Piedmont, California, where their parents were waiting for them at the bus stop. Mabel was successfully able to convince them to let her keep Waddles, and Dipper was eager to tell them all about the exciting adventures they'd had that summer, even if they did have a hard time believing it.

Later that night, after he and Mabel had gone to bed, Dipper was still awake, writing in his journal. On the latest page he was writing on, he had drawn a portrait of Candy looking to the right. Next to the drawing, he wrote the following text:

 _"If there's one thing I regret about this summer, it's that I almost squandered my chances with Candy Chiu, Mabel's best friend who loves me for who I am. Candy may not be as cool as Wendy, as pretty as Pacifica, or as strong as Grenda, but she's got a heart of gold that's bigger than Bill's Fearamid and his prison bubble put together. I almost drove her away due to my inexperience in dealing with girls, but thanks to my instinctive loyalty to my sister, I ultimately earned Candy's love once again, and have come to reciprocate her feelings. I unfortunately did not learn of this until just yesterday, before Mabel and I left Gravity Falls, but Candy and I hope to keep in touch through a long-distance relationship, just like Soos and Melody have been doing. And hey, there's always a chance we'll be together again next summer."_

As Dipper finished writing that, he pulled out the drawing Candy had given him and looked fondly at it. He then grabbed Mabel's scrapbook and opened it up to the page where she had pasted the photo of his and Candy's first kiss from the day before. "Heh, Mabel was right," he said with a smile. "That kiss certainly _was_ my favorite birthday present."

* * *

So, there's my first try at writing a _Gravity Falls_ story. I spent two months working on this to make sure the dialogue sounded in-character and that none of the details contradicted any official information. And yes, I am counting the series' Nintendo 3DS game, _Legend of the Gnome Gemulets_ , as canon. Suffice it to say, I hope that my fellow fans of this show like how this story came out.


End file.
